Goal for Chicago Bulls' offense this season: less predictability, more randomness

Hero-ball is not necessarily a bad thing. But is it sustainable, especially for the Chicago Bulls?

DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, Billy Donovan / © David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

NBA training camp often allows teams to introduce new wrinkles to their offense. The Chicago Bulls are no different, as they look to add more variety to their offensive schemes this season. All-Star wingman Zach LaVine hinted at the changes, saying adjustments are needed if they are to improve on their 46-36 record from last season and earn a better seeding in the loaded Eastern Conference playoffs.

Diversified attack

As sophisticated as NBA offenses are these days, NBA defenses can be just as sharp in taking away what an offense wants to do. That's why it's important for offenses to have a diverse attack, with the ability to score in various ways. The Bulls struggled at times last season with their predictability, particularly late in games when they often resorted to isolation basketball.

To remedy that issue, the Bulls have been working on adding more movement and off-ball action to their offense. The goal is to create more opportunities for their wealth of shooters while also giving LaVine and fellow All-Star DeMar DeRozan more room to operate one-on-one. It's a delicate balance, but the team believes it will make them a more dangerous offensive unit.

"I think it's just going to be a little more random. Be in different spots other than pretty much last year where teams knew exactly where we were and could set the defense every play," LaVine said.

Less hero ball

When you have an explosive and crafty scorer like DeRozan on your squad, it's tempting to give him the green light to take over games in crunch time. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but the Bulls want to avoid becoming too reliant on what has come to be known as "hero ball."

"From the bench as a coach, you've got a group of guys that are trying to go into that game and try to win — and you're trying to put them in a situation to win. And no question there were times where DeMar got it rolling and we kept going to it," head coach Billy Donovan said.

DeRozan is more than capable of creating his own shot, but the team would like to see him focus on setting up his teammates more often. That's not to say that DeRozan won't still get his share of touches in late-game situations, but the hope is that the offense will run more smoothly and efficiently when everyone is involved.

"And I'm not saying that that was the wrong thing. But my thing is if you're gonna look at the big picture, is that going to be sustainable and successful for us against those really, really elite teams, both in the East and the West? I think it would be really, really hard to live like that," DeRozan said.